Do you know this man?
He is Luis Cuevas, a 4th generation cigar man with roots that go back to the Pinar del Rio province of Cuba and is the owner of Tabacalera Las Lavas, in Santiago, Dominican Republic. You may not know Luis but I am sure you have enjoyed one of the many premium brands the company has been hand rolling for years.
I had the pleasure of meeting Luis early in 2016 when I visited Santiago with a couple of friends and toured Tabacalera Las Lavas. I can say, the attention to quality was second to none in all they produce. I reconnected with Luis at this years IPCPR and he was promoting the company’s own brand, Casa Cuevas, which Luis it was time, after decades of manufacturing for other brands.
Luis was kind enough to present me with samples of each of the new Casa Cuevas blends for the purpose of reviewing. So today I would like to provide the first of three reviews of the Casa Cuevas.
The Casa Cuevas Maduro
The Casa Cuevas Maduro blend is a dark brown and toothy, Mexican San Andres wrapped cigar, with some noticeable veins.
It has a solid feel to the touch with no soft spots from head to foot. The band is classic and elegant with a black and gold motif and the words Casa Cuevas centered in the middle.
The Casa Cuevas Maduro blend is described as:
- Wrapper – Mexican San Andres
- Binder – Nicaraguan
- Filler – Colombian, Dominican and Nicaraguan
The Casa Cuevas Maduro is available in three popular vitolas and packaged in 20 – count boxes.
- Robusto – 5 x 52 (MSRP $7.50)
- Toro – 6 x 50 (MSRP $8.00)
- Gordo – 6 x 60 (MSRP $8.75)
Running the Casa Cuevas Maduro along the nose, I pick up sweet fruit and spice on foot and a sweet fermented leaf along the barrel. I sliced it the well applied cap with my new Colibri cutter and gave it a few cold puffs. The draw was open with little restriction and delivered notes of pepper and earth.
I would like to note, the Casa Cuevas Maduro was sadly one of the few cigars that had a tough trip back from the show and there was a few cracks along the wrapper. I want you to keep that in mind as you read the review and look at the photos. As you will see, even with the wrapper issue (which is not a reflection of the construction) it burned incredibly well which is a reflection of the quality that Luis and Tabacalera Las Lavas put into every cigar they roll.
For this review I sampled the Casa Cuevas Maduro Robusto
Cigar Review Notes
- Peppered buttered toast to start
- White pepper hits the back of the throat
- Fairly white ash develops on thin char line
- Espresso notes enter after half-inch
- Aroma is spiced fruit
- Lemon zest joins the espresso as it moves into the first inch
- Butter and spice continue
- Ash holding solid and looking more salt and pepper in color
- Smoke is thick lemon shifts to more of a grapefruit
- You may notice a few cracks and splits along the wrapper which I attribute to its travel from Vegas to Florid, but the burn is perfect with solid construction
- Smoke is quite smooth by the middle of second third
- Cocoa notes enter
- Subtle Sweetness adds to the pleasure midway
- Ash fell midway with a well centered and slightly protruding burn cone
- Sweetness increases as does the strength
- Aroma shifts to a nut
- Spice enters in final third with an ever-present butter and a long nut finish
- Medium Strength
- Total Smoking Time was just over an hour
Overall, the Casa Cuevas Maduro was a flavorful cigar with excellent transitions and a core of buttery sweetness throughout. This is a cigar that would be pleasing to any cigar smoker.The price point on the Casa Cuevas makes it an easy buy. I look forward to sampling the Casa Cuevas Connecticut and Habano. You can find these at the retailers listed on the Casa Cuevas website.
